in restless dreams i walk alone…

9/11 February 7, 2008

if it hadn’t been 9/11, it would have been something else. i firmly believe that certain members of the “powers that be” were waiting on the sidelines for an opportunity to present itself that would allow them to advocate going to war in the middle east. when 9/11 happened, they had that opportunity. they took advantage of the fear that had taken over the entire nation and used it to fuel their cause… and we went to war. 9/11 happened in the beginning of my senior year in high school. half of my friends joined the marines before we even graduated. they were angry, and they wanted to do something, anything – and here was our government, telling them that they can take up the noble and righteous cause by serving their country – that they could help take down the terrorists… all for the greater good. when we were 17, 18… in the months after 9/11 – going to war seemed to be the only viable option. and we were fed just the right kinds of lies – or omissions of truth – to get us there… but in the end, we’re mired in a war that has nothing to do with terrorism and everything to do with greed, globalization, and idiocy. we haven’t done what every one of those boys that i knew in high school wanted to do – we haven’t caught bin laden, or thwarted al-qaeda, or put an end to terrorism. rather – we have lost bin laden – most likely forever (if he’s not already dead of old age), al-qaeda still operates, sneaking out like a poltergeist that we have no hope of catching, we’ve managed to further destabilize an already unstable nation, and terrorism? well – we’ve just given the terrorists more fuel for their recruiting efforts. this is why i am really angry about the war in iraq – because my government, the government that at the age of 17 i still had some faith in – lied to me and to the people that i loved, and used a monumental tragedy that shook the foundations of every house in america – to serve their own purposes – purposes that had nothing to do with that tragedy. and i know, i know – there are those who would say to me that it no longer matters why or how we got into iraq, what matters is that we’re there, and what we’re going to do now. i agree with part of that – that we need to look at what we’re going to do to get out of iraq in the best possible manner… the key words being get out. as for the why and how – if you care at all about the integrity of our government, if you care at all about the type of nation that your children and grandchildren and generations to come will grow up in – then the why and how matter.

as for 9/11 – yes, it was a tragedy – i can’t even begin to deny that. 7 years later i can still remember exactly where i was when i saw the second plane hit on the news…
but we act as though it’s the worst thing to happen in the history of the world – as though pain and suffering can only be felt by we americans… as though we’re so much more important than the rest of the world. and yet – terrorist attacks take the lives of hundreds of people all across the globe. genocide takes the lives of millions – darfur, rwanda, sierra leone… wars are waged and in them – there are children carrying automatic rifles, or machetes, or merely throwing rocks… there are families being torn apart by bombs… people dying every day – for our greed and the greed of those whose philosophies we condemn in public and yet secretly harbor ourselves.